PS2 Fat has grey and distorted image

[Crylia]

I've got a PS2 Fat with an two issues, the first would be in the title where it has a grey image that is slightly distorted too, I personally would suspect the video chip or the caps around it. Does anyone have any experience with this issue? My first idea was to replace all caps related to the video chip (I've looked up the schematics), then I would try to replace the video chip itself, but I fear that this issue might be a bad GPU or the BGA under it.

The other issue that I haven't looked into is that the disk drive will shot out with mach 5 the first time when the system lost power (when you unplug the AC cable). Its only for the first time and the motor won't stop running unless you power it off, push back in, then power back on.

I would appreciate any help with the first issue as its my priority, I would hate to buy a buch of caps and a new video chip(if I can find one) just to have a bad gpu.

 

[wolffangalchemist]

I've got a PS2 Fat with an two issues, the first would be in the title where it has a grey image that is slightly distorted too, I personally would suspect the video chip or the caps around it. Does anyone have any experience with this issue? My first idea was to replace all caps related to the video chip (I've looked up the schematics), then I would try to replace the video chip itself, but I fear that this issue might be a bad GPU or the BGA under it.

The other issue that I haven't looked into is that the disk drive will shot out with mach 5 the first time when the system lost power (when you unplug the AC cable). Its only for the first time and the motor won't stop running unless you power it off, push back in, then power back on.

I would appreciate any help with the first issue as its my priority, I would hate to buy a buch of caps and a new video chip(if I can find one) just to have a bad gpu.

Not saying it's exactly the same but my current ps2 originally had a distorted split image with graphical glitches when i got it over 10 years ago, all was fixed with some flux and a heat gun to the gpu. a little cleaning every now and then, use it still to this day no issues.
It probably wouldn't hurt to give it a go on a reflow of the video chip with a recap test it and if it is the same then do the gpu just to see what happens.
The 2nd issue i have no experince with unfortunately, i would look at the power board cable ribbon and connectors first though, could be some bridging.

 

[Crylia]

Well I got some progress but it's really weird now. I redid all the caps around the AV port and same issue, then I reflowed the GPU and still the same issue. I almost went fuck it, the GPU must be fried or the AV decoder chip. That was when I accidentally hit reset instead of holding the power to turn it off, and it booted with the image just fine. I thought it fixed itself somehow? Or maybe the GPU was hot enough that it internally did something? But no, it seems like that the PS2 has some issue with a "cold start" and will only work when reset.

Here is a quick overview of the problem and how it works

If I start the PS2 for the first time it has the problem, it doesn't matter if it lost power or not, it will always start with the grey image and the disk drive shooting out and the motor not wanting to stop. As soon as I hit reset it works fine (except for the image, it's locked to 4:3 and the settings just stretch it/fit it to the screen).

I have zero explanation to why it only works once I reset it? First I thought maybe it's some bad caps so when it first gets power it happens and doesn't recover, but that's not the case as shutting it down gracefully via the button will bring it right back into its faulty mode.

Oh, and the disk drive doesn't read games, tho that could be the drive itself

Does anyone have any clue what this could be about?

 

[Crylia]

I revisited this PS2 and I think I'm getting closer to the problem, it can't be anything around the video chips, I think it has to be the nand or something around it because every time I turn the console off I have to set my language etc (first time setup), but when I reset it keeps the information. Another clue is that the console doesn't know its version number, it just says unknown until I reset it(where the image and disk drive works fine) then It detects its a 30004 R

If anyone has a clue which component could be fried/damaged please let me know

 

[esmith13]

I would say that you should consider changing ALL the capacitors. When something doesn't work on a cold boot and then is happy after some time powered up either with or without a reset, it usually means that an important cap isn't charging up immediately like it is supposed to, and once it has, things normalize. If the thing in question is an important part of the boot process, then the cold boot goes wrong, the cap would charge up a few seconds later, and a reset would allow the system to boot again with a now properly charged cap.

For that matter, have you checked that the power supply is providing correct values? Might be worth giving this a read and checking out your power supply. PS2 Fat Power Supply Repair Guide

This is just a guess on my part, but it would not be the first time I have heard of a PS2 having issues with caps that are way out of required tolerances due to age but not totally dead.

I wish you good luck getting it all straightened out.

 

[Crylia]

I found the issue, and boy did I never think this could cause it. It was the fucking 3V Battery, it was dead at 0V, replaced it, and it works like factory... Honestly, how in the world would it cause that? I thought that maybe a cap was dead, and the NAND would be corrupted on first start, but the voltage was then stable enough to read it once it got reset. But anyway, glad I got it fixed in the end... stupid battery, lol